Yem. 24-27.-Jnterpretation of providence. Thla mysterious pusage in the life of Moees 1111ggests various reflections. 'fhe facts are few. Moses, probably in deference to Zipporah's abhorrence of the rite, had neglected the circumcision of his child. This, ln BO eminent a .!ervant of God, was a sin which could not be winked at. Least of all could it be overlooked at a time when the covenants were undergoing a species of resur- rection, and when Moses was on his way to Egypt for the very purpose of giving effect to them. Hence this incident at the inn. Moses, apparently, was seized by an illness which threatened to be mortal, and a fatal result was only averted by Zipporah, who, at once divining the cause of the affliction, used a sharp stone, and performed the neglected rite. Thus was Moses taught that be who represents God before men must himself be blameless-guiltless of gross neglect of Divine commandments; taught also that service of God must be whole-hearted-that in the way of duty there is to be no conferring with flesh and blood-no pleasing of men at the cost of unfaithfulness to God. "He that lovetb father or mother," etc. (Matt. x. 37). Besides these general lessons we draw from the incident such instruction as the following;- I. GOD OFTEN TEACHES 'C'S TB.AT RE IS ANGRY WITH us BY VISITING UB WITH AFFLICTIVE DESPENSATIONS, LEAVING us TO FIND OUT THE CA.UBE. Even Moses, with whom God had so often spoken, received on this occasion no other warning of his displeasure than this severe illness which so unexpectedly overtook him. Huxley remarks on Nature's system of education-" Nature's discipline is not even a word i.nd a blow, and the blow first ; but the blow without the word. It is left to you to find out why your ears are boxed." The words apply as fitly to the relation of outward providences to moral and spiritual conditions-a class of relations which this writer would reject, but which nevertheless exist. ll. Cos-SCIENCE, REMINDING US OF 1'"EGLECTED DUTIES, OR OTREB BINB COMMITTED BY us, IS A BEADY INTERPRETER OF MA.1'-Y OF Goo's .AFFLICTIVE PROVIDENCES. Zipporah guessed at once the cause of this trouble, and the result showed her guess to be correct. So Josepb's ,brethren (Gen. x.lii. 21). III. THE HOLIEST OF Goo's SERVA.1'"TS A.RE NOT EXEMPTED FROM SEVERE CH.ASTISE- KE:t-"TS. We may wonder that God should have chosen this particular time to put a valuable life in peril It was, however, the summons to depart which brought matters to a crisis. Moses was not ignorant of this neglected duty, and to set out on so grave a mission, and leave it still neglected, was a sin calling for sharp rebuke. This is another illustration of the truth that God punishes sins in his own children with even greater s~verity than he does the like sins in others. Do we ask, What if Moses had died ? The question is needless. The Divine arrangements had all the facts in contemplation from the .:first. Had it been foresun that the anticipated effect would not have followed from the stroke-t'!iat the trouble would have had a different ending-everything else would have been different to suit. Yet we may not doubt that Moses'life was for the time really in peril, atid that, had repentance not supervened, God would not have receded, even at the cost of a Moses, from inflicting upon him the extreme penalty of his unfaith- fulness. IV. TRUE REPENTAl-CE INCLUDES REPARATION FOB WRONG, .A.ND WHERE TH.AT II l'OSSIBLE, PERFORMANCE OF NEGLECTED DUTIES, Exemplified in Zipporah. V. GoD IS ZEALOUS FOB THE OBSERVANCE OF ms OWN ORDINANCES. It might be pleaded, this is only a ceremony, an outward rite; what great importance is to be attached to it? But God had commanded it, and had even made it the badge of his covenant; therefore neglect of it was an act of disobedience, and implied a low esteem of covenant- privilege. The sacraments may be unduly and foolishly exalted; but there is an opposite Bin of disesteeming a.nd neglecting them.-J. 0.
Vers. 24-26.-Neglect of the covenant on its ltuman side. In Gen. xvil. we find the covenant between God and Abram stated with great particularity and emphasis. On God's side there were large promises to Abram of an abundant posterity and an ever- lasting possession, and on man's side there was to be the faithful and regular practice of circi..:.mci.Bion. Moses was going to Egypt now in virtue of this very covenant, and as the agent of God to advance it considerably towards its full effect; and yet, strange to say, he bad with him e.n uncircumcised son. No wonder that God visited him by the way, and-when we look: into all the probabilitiee o,f the case-no wonder that ~od OIL IV, 27, 28,] THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 11.l